Project's Well Raises Questions

May Damage Water Supply

January 25, 1989|By NEIL CORNISH Staff Writer

ISLE OF WIGHT — A former chairman of the State Water Control Board says he is concerned the proposed Kings Colony subdivision would endanger the water supplies of existing homes in the northern area of the county.

Kings Colony, a project that would bring 1,705 new homes to the county, would be supplied water from a deep well system installed by the developers. J. Leo Bourassa, a Carrollton resident who served on the water board from 1972 to 1980, fears such a large water system would deplete underground water supplies and cause problems with wells within a 25-mile radius.

"Our water table is low, quite low," said Bourassa. "If we have a real drought this summer, you're going to see something you've never seen before."

Bourassa said he raised his concerns because attention has not been brought to the issue of water with regards to the controversial development. "It's not a scare tactic," he said. "You might as well face the truth."

In a letter sent to members of the Board of Supervisors, Bourassa says most of the wells in the Carrollton area are in the vicinity of 500 feet deep, and that even now water in the wells is dropping 2 to 4 feet per year. With the Kings Colony well removing large amounts of water daily from underground supplies, the water level in nearby wells would drop even further, he fears.

As the water level drops, he said, the reduction in water pressure can allow salt water to intrude and contaminate good wells.

When all the homes in Kings Colony are in place, it is estimated the subdivision would use almost 500,000 gallons of water per day, not considering water use for a proposed golf course. Bourassa's letter asks the supervisors not to issue heavy water usage permits for the project "unless developers guarantee that they would get their water elsewhere," that is, not from a deep well.

Bourassa, who said his home is about seven miles from the proposed subdivision, said water is his major concern with Kings Colony. "If they can find some other way to get water ... If you can survive that, maybe you can survive the other things."

Attorney Archer Jones II, who represents Kings Colony developer Daniel M. Keusal, said Tuesday that water has been discussed at length throughout the negotiations concerning the project. "It is certainly a concern that needs to be addressed," Jones said. "We don't believe it will have a severe impact on water."

Kings Colony would draw its water from a deep well dug on or near the development, Jones said. "We think most of the wells in that area will not draw from as nearly as deep of a strata," he said, adding it is not known at this point exactly how deep the well would be.

Jones said the water usage figure for the development "pales in comparison" to amounts used by the Smithfield meat packing plants or by Union Camp's plant in Franklin.

Kings Colony has been a source of controversy in the county for recent months. Last week the Board of Supervisors tabled a decision on the project until March 16, to allow more studies on the subject to be completed.